Private Project

Free Waves

Free Waves is film about all sorts of waves, sea waves, radio waves, waves of human resistance. The public beach in Beirut is under threat of being violated by private investment projects, a struggle has been ongoing for the past year. This is a film from within the struggle. The earth itself is under threat of existence in our cosmos. Radio Transmission through electromagnetic waves may be coming to an end. An apocalyptic and poetic, and sometimes hopeful portrait of our time.

  • May Kassem
    Director
    Nourhane, a child's dream / Reverse-Shot: Diary of a Struggle / Joker
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Diary, Sci-Fi, poetry, Radio, political, Essay
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 18, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    300 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Lebanon
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Arabic, French
  • Shooting Format:
    HD 720
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - May Kassem

Born in Beirut in 1975, May Kassem is a filmmaker, screenwriter and teacher, who has made 16mm films, videos, documentaries, and animated films.
Her work has focused on the impact of art on society (Organized Freedom is Compulsory – 1994 / Pre-revolutionary art is the Art of the Revolution - 1996), as well as the marginalization of segments of urban populations such as migrant Syrian construction workers in Lebanon (Joker -1998), and the plight of undocumented immigrants in Paris (Qui écrira l'histoire – 1996).
May presents two music programs on 96.2 FM Radio Liban « Poivre Noir, Piment Rouge » (world music) as well as « Champ Sonore » (electronic, contemporary music, and sound-scapes). She teaches Screenwriting and works as a script-doctor. May just finished a documentary that deals with the struggle of the undocumented immigrants in Paris, 20 years ago and today. The 6-hour documentary essay "On ne cache pas le soleil avec un doigt !" is exposed in 5 chapters, and reminisces over the history and legacy of that struggle, through personal and collective memory, against the backdrop of an evolving urban landscape, that of Paris today. May lives in Beirut. For the time being.

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